Call for tougher penalties for flouting equity laws

THE Department of Labour will seriously consider asking President Jacob Zuma to enact harsher punishment for companies failing to comply with employment equity laws.

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant yesterday launched the Commission for Employment Equity’s annual report‚ which showed that top posts in the country are still held by white men.

“We challenge those who believe that the Employment Equity and affirmative action policies have gone past their sell-by date to read this commission’s report carefully and check if in all honesty it is really the time to scrap employment equity and affirmative action,” she said.

“Do they truly believe we have achieved what the Employment Equity Act was set out to do?”

Oliphant said calls for the removal of these policies were absurd and premature.

Instead‚ the government should seek harsher sanctions against those failing to comply‚ she said.

“The report once again points to the painfully slow pace of transformation in the labour market.”

To date, 21 companies have been fined for non-compliance‚ more than half of which are JSE-listed.

“Commentators ridicule the maximum amount that an offending employer could be fined as too small to be a deterrent‚ as some employers simply budget for this in case they get caught.

“It is this state of affairs that leaves us with no option but to consider drafting in higher consequences for non-compliance.”

Labour analyst Terry Bell said the policies needed better implementation.

“The point is that it was grossly distorted. They [politicians] distorted it to give jobs to relatives‚ friends and for cadre deployment.”

The report showed that last year, 68.5% of top management positions were held by white people‚ 14.4% by black people‚ 8.9% by Indians, 4.9% by coloureds and 3.4% by foreign nationals.

Men held 78% of top management positions and 66.7% of senior management positions.

Whites held 58.1% of senior management positions‚ black people 22.1%‚ Indians 10.6%‚ coloureds 7.7% and foreign nationals 1.4%.

In the professionally qualified category, 41.5% of positions are occupied by blacks, 37.5% by whites, 9.7% by coloureds, 8.5% by Indians and 2.8% by foreign nationals.

Technically skilled positions were mostly held by black people at 60.2%‚ followed by white people at 20.8%.

Semi-skilled labour positions are mostly held by blacks at 76.1%. At the unskilled level 83.2% of positions are held by black people.